Drawing up floorplans and mechanical diagrams?

I want to draw up a detailed set of floorplans. I also want to clearly illustrate where the electrical wiring and plumbing in the house go, both for myself and for future reference for any plumber or electrician I may hire. I'd like to include every outlet and bit of pipe, so that one can see what is on what circuit as well as which pipe is present that is not in use. I'd love to also include the pipe from our old vacuum system, with the hope of using it as a conduit for wiring in the future, but I know that that may be more difficult, given that most of the outlets for the vacuum system have been removed.

This seems like a good time to start working on such a project. I haven't put any insulation up in the attic yet. I have the library ceiling open, which gives me access to a good deal of the plumbing for the two second floor bathrooms.

The best solution I've found so is to just use large format graph paper to draw the floorplan, with a scale of 1"=1'. I plan to use additional sheets to overlay the mechanical systems. While this requires little additional expenditure, it's not as clean as I would like, nor does it allow for easy editing once I've finally inked everything in. Further, short of doing more drawings, it doesn't allow me to show how the plumbing goes vertically through the walls.

The desire to record all this information may seem slightly excessive. Keep in mind that we plan to be in this house for at least the next 30 years, so the knowledge recorded here will build up over time. Given this, perhaps the best way is to just work on paper, as software can change so much.

I welcome any suggestions on the subject.

Insulating the attic

My attic has a problem with insulation - there isn't any. None. (Ok, so there's one poorly installed roll of fiberglass, but that isn't statistically significant.) We knew this was an issue when we purchased the house and it was something that we planned to address after winter was over.

The first step will be to install soffit vents and some way to draw the air through. I'll be interested to see what interesting ideas my roofer may have. One idea I've been playing with (and have no idea as to the practicality) is, when the copper on the ridge is repaired/replaced, to conceal a vent underneath it. I don't like the idea of ugly little vent fans on the roof.



The shape of the walls on the third floor make insualting a challenge. While there's enough space to insulate the vertical walls and the ceiling, the parts of the wall that slope, as shown here, are a real issue. The roof is framed with 2x6s. Given 1.5" for ventilation, this leaves us with but 3" for insulation - which would be about R-15 at the most. This doesn't seem like enough.

My stepfather suggested furring out the diagonal walls a bit so that there would be more space for insulation. While this sounds good in theory, I again come to the preservation issue. The faux-Tudory elements were added in the 1970s or 1980s, so they can be removed or adjusted without consequence. At that time, drywall was placed over the existing walls. The walls are of fiberboard, but unlike the rest of the house, they were never plastered - nor, given how the trim was installed, were they meant to be. Tearing it out to install insulation won't make any difference in the character of the house, so this shouldn't be an issue, but somehow, it is.

Of course, it will be really really really nice to have the thermostat up above 55.

For those cold winter nights when your spouse makes you sleep in the garage

One of the curious things about our house is presence of radiators in the garage. They are along the wall, just under the windows. Our garage is detached from the house, so it's not as though the garage needs to be heated.

Ah, the joys of a time of cheaper gas.

Slab Wood

Today, the three bundles of slab wood were delivered. Slab wood is essentially the leftovers from the sawmill. It's considerably cheaper than regular firewood, and because it is not cut to length, one can cut to fit one's own fireplace. Each of the three bundles is about 12 feet long. Two of them are primarily oak, with some maple. The other seems to be mostly pine and other softwoods, with some poplar. The hardwood bundles are a combination of pieces cut to a great size for burning (about 2.5" square) with some pieces that are truly massive.

I was told that this would be about 1.5-2 cords. At the current rate, I think it will be closer to 2.5, though that is partially due to my less than perfect stacking skills. It should burn well, I think. Anyway, it seems to me an excellent value - it was $175 for the three bundles, delivered. Around here, a cord, delivered, costs about $225-$250.

I've begun cutting the wood to fit our fireplace. This evening, I was able to get through about 2/3 of the first bundle. The other two bundles, the hardwoods, should be easier to cut, due to their relatively consistent size. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it all cut and stacked by the end of the day on Wednesday.

Thinking Warm Thoughts

Over the holidays, I talked with my father-in-law, an HVAC tech, about my current boiler and possible future options. Our system is hot water, which lends us to greater efficiency potential than is possible with a steam heat system. He had just installed a Burnham Alpine boiler in the church across the street, and had primarily good things to say about the company. As a tech, he appreciates that it is still easy to get parts, quickly, for 35+ year old systems, while some other manufacturers discontinue parts after 10 years.

Although he wasn't able to give specific numbers, he thought, given our usage, that a new boiler would probably pay for itself in 5 or so years. The problem becomes then one of determining how we will pay the $5000-7000 that it will probably cost for the purchase and installation of the system.

The issue that this brings to mind for me, however, is one of venting. The Burnham Alpine uses PVC pipes for ventilation. High efficiency boilers and hot water heaters have special ventilation requirements to meet and as a result of their higher efficiency. They draw air in from outside because it is cleaner, and therefore burns more efficently than, say, sawdust or humidity laden air. They must exhaust outside, rather than into the chimney because their exhaust is cooler, more humid, and more dense, and would lead quickly to the collapse of the chimney in just a few years.

The normal installation would be to just run the vent pipes through the wall of the house. I find the idea of two bright white PVC pipes poking through the wall of my house rather unattractive. Yes, they could be painted to match the brick, but I'm still not completely comfortable with that solution.

One alternative that my father-in-law suggested was to run the vent pipes up the existing chimney. Our boiler and hot water heater use one chimney, while our fireplaces use another, so this wouldn't be a problem. He thought it wouldn't be too difficult to run things that way - just a matter of dropping two or three lengths of PVC pipe down the chimney. While this would cost more, I think the result is worthwhile.

This all leads me to thinking about the hot water heater and its eventual replacement with a tankless model. Tankless hot water heaters have their own special ventilation requirements, which seem to tend toward stainless steel, but which could probably be fit into the chimney if necessary. If I could settle on one system, it seems that it might be reasonable to drop in the vent pipe for the water heater at the same time as the vent pipe is being installed for the boiler.

Of course, I'd love to hear other ideas, including less ugly ways to conceal vents run through walls.

Just how much paint do I have to strip?

Does the amount of paint on a radiator significantly affect its efficiency? It seemed that for a while everything I read said that paint negatively affected it, but now people don't seem to be so sure. This can't be too hard to test, can it?